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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. degree — temperature
  6. ball — a dance
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spell — letters
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. key — the most important part
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — a short time
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. key — for a lock
  20. ball — a great time
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. key — in music
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. arm — part of the body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com